US President George W. Bush has told Arab leaders at a US-Arab summit in Egypt that Israel has to deal with Jewish settlements as part of the US-backed Middle East peace "road map".
"Israel must make sure there is a continuous territory that the Palestinians can call home," Mr Bush said today in his opening words to the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Speaking after meeting with Arab leaders Mr Bush said that the they "have declared their firm rejection of terror", regardless of motivation.
"All progress toward peace requires the rejection of terror. The leaders here today have declared their firm rejection of terror, regardless of its justifications or motives", Mr Bush said after a summit with Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas and four other Arab leaders.
He also said that the Arab leaders had offered "practical means" to cut off all assistance to terror.
In a statement moments before, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said: "We are going to utilise all means possible to block support for terrorist organisations."
"We are going to continue to support the efforts of thePalestinian Authority in the struggle against the violence and we are going to make sure that our help will go solely to the Palestinian Authority."
Mr Bush also called for the creation of a US-Middle East free trade area by 2013 as part of a bid to secure a "permanent" end to Arab-Isreali hostilities.
He began formal talks with Mr Mubarak, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Jordan's King Abdullah, Bahrain's King Hamad and Mr Abbas, who is making his debut on the international stage.
Mr Bush, Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet for three-way discussions on the "road map" in Jordan tomorrow.
Television pictures showed the leaders smiling and chatting together before the meeting - among them Mr Bush and Mr Abbas, who are meeting for the first time. The US president has refused to meet veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The "road map", the most far-reaching Middle East peace plan of Mr Bush's two-and-a-half years in office, outlines a series of reciprocal steps by Palestinians and Israelis leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Agencies